FORMER US PRESIDENT CARPETS NIGERIA ON CORRUPTION!

TheFormer President of the United States of America, Mr. George W. Bush, has accused Nigerian government of not doing enough in the war against corruption, advising that the best way for Nigeria to gain confidence of the citizens and move her economy forward was to burst the  corruption monster and create room for young entrepreneurs to thrive.

Though he acknowledged Nigeria’s growth potentials and enterprising spirit of her citizens, Bush said no donor country will like to continue giving grants to a corrupt government; adding that wealth creation is the best way to eliminate poverty.

When asked to advise on how best  to enforce tax laws, the former US president emphasised that tax incentives to private sector was important for economic growth.

His words:“I believe it is important to make sure that the role of the public sector versus private sector is balanced. When I was president, I felt it was important to invigorate the private sector. In my country, most of the jobs were created by small businesses, many small businesses were incorporated as limited partnerships or entities that pay individual tax rates.                                 Therefore, dropping individual income tax rates will increase private sector growth.

“I think it is important not to over tax capital investors but to reward them,” Bush said.
He also wants Nigerian government to try and simplify the tax laws so everyone gets to understand the tax code,laws and the tax responsibilities to encourage participation.

According to him, the administration’s revenues increased as a result of taxes because it was the private sector that supplies the tax revenues to the US treasury.
On accountability and democracy, Bush said that in an emerging economy like Nigeria,it is very important to hold leaders  accountable.

“During my administration, I was a strong believer that it is very important to earn confidence in people by bursting corruption. Seven congress men in my party were jailed because they were corrupt,” he said.
He further said the United States only hand out relief to countries who had proper and accountable leaders and governments.

Bush added: “My advice is for Nigeria to have clear rules that are enforceable without prejudice and also hold government accountable to the people so that it can assure that the people’s money would be protected by the law.”

Earlier, the outgoing Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede, said Access Bank remained committed to sustainable governance culture that is aimed at encouraging sustainable leadership culture in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

At the Access Bank leadership conference held on Thursday, Imoukhuede said the theme, which is :”Embracing sustainable leadership,” was a call for leaders to reaffirm commitment to sustainable development, by addressing development challenges.